Allothereua maculata, Scutigeridae
Workbook
A scutigeromorph found at home on two occasions - on 8/10/14 and 3/12/16 (female laying eggs in pile of brickies sand).
Previously keyed out these to Thereuopoda longicornis using the ento.sciro.au app for centipedes.
Step 1 of key:
arrows in images below show absence of spines at distal end of first tarsal segment of legs in these two specimens, ruling out Scutigera coleoptrata. Also images of that species on ALA differ from our centipede.
image by Dr. Phil Myers, University of Michigan
Step 2 of key:
8/10/14 - raised red area on tergite surrounding spiracle
Step 3: one species in this genus Thereuopoda longicornis
However our location doesn’t match the reported distribution of this species in far north Queensland
Also single image of Thereuopoda longicornis in ALA does not match our species
On the other hand, images in ALA and reported distribution of Allothereua maculata are a good match for our species.
At this stage, I don’t have an explanation for the contradiction, apart from the possibility that there is a mistake in the key (e.g. at step 2 of the key, Thereuopoda should be below alternative 2 and “Go to character 3” below alternative 1). I haven’t yet been able to locate the original description of either Thereuopoda longicornis or Allothereua maculata to check this.
Kim has suggested that there might be a mistake in the key, so I’ve provisionally identified this species as Allothereua maculata.
This is a workbook page … a part of our website where we record the observations and references used in making species identifications. The notes will not necessarily be complete. They are a record for our own use, but we are happy to share this information with others.